Airplane engine arrangement



May 17, 1932. G. M. BELLANCA 1,858,761

AIRPLANE ENGINE ARRANGEMENT Filed June "f, 195o Patented? May 17, 1,932

' UNTED STA TasA PATENT OFFICE AIRPLANE ENGINE .aanANeEMENT' Application :tiled .Tune 7,

This invention relates in general to airplanes and more particularly has reference 'to an improved arrangement for airplane'- ,plurality of motors in an airplane in such a manner as to avoid the above-mentioned' motors. i y

Heretoforeit has been customary to provide airplanes with one or more engines, each being connected with a propeller for driving the airplane. Because of the likelihood of any single engine becoming disabled during flight, an airplane in which .the power is furnished by'a plurality of independent units is obviously highly desirable.

Up to this time, multi-motored airplanes have been constructed with their respective l" power plants arranged in a number of different ways. Probably the most common of these has been the tri-motored ltype of plane carrying one motor on the nose of the c fuselage and a motor on each wing at equal distances from the fuselage. Another type has Abeen the bi-motored plane having one motor positioned on each wing at equal distances .from the fuselage. Yet another type has been the multi-motored plane. In this 5 type the motors are grouped in pairs on the wings, there being an even number of pairs so that the plane will be balanced. The respective pairs are arranged in tandem, so that in each pair, one motor operates a push- 0 ing propeller and the other a pulling propeller.-

Although the arrangements of engines above discussed have secured somev of the advantages of multiplying the number of in- 3 dependent units in airplanes, each of these 1930. serial No. 459,741.14

also has certain pronounced drawbacks.

Prominent among these is the inherent feature inveach arrangement, except in the trimotored arrangement, whereby the resultant driving effect of all the motors is thrown off center upon the failure of any single unit.

This is also true of the tri-motored type of arrangement expept in the case where the motor which fails 'is the central motor.

It is also noted that when the en ines are mounted on the wings there arises t e necessity for relatively heavy framing to support them, thus substantially increasing the weight of the plane. Furthermore, this framing as well as the motors themselves, substantially plane be changed.

increases the total air resistance of the airplane.

Itis apparent that any arrangement 0f a diiculties would be highly desirable.

To overcome the above and other disadvantages in-the prior arrangements of airplane motors is one of the objects of this invention. j,

` Another object of this invention is to provide -an' arrangement of motors in an airplane wherebythe failure of one motorwill not unbalance the resultant drivingy force` exerted on the plane.

Yet another objectlofthis invention is to provide an `arrangement. of the motors in an airplane whereby the application of force'4 due to the action ofthe propeller connected with each individual motor is substantially in the same straight line longitudinally of t-he airplane.

' Another object of this invention is to proto provide an arrangement df motors in an a1rplane 1n whlch it 1s not necessary to have heavy frame members for motor supports.

With the above and other objects in view 90 this invention comprehends an arrangement o'f engines in an airplanein such a manner that under no circumstances can the point of application of .the resultant force to the airvTo assist 'in an adequate understanding of this invention, and wishing it to be distinctly understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the preferred embodiment herein shown by way of example withoutl departing from the -spirit or scope 0f my el. v

invention, reference is made to vthe accompanying drawings in which similar numerals indicate corresponding parts.

Figure 1 is 'a diagrammatic plan view of an airplane ofthe monoplane type disclosi plane of the monoplane type having a fuselage 1 and a wing A2. This wing isprovided at its trailing edge with the usualfvailerons 3 and Lis further provided with brace members 4 extending from its lower surface to the lower portion of the fuselage. These brace members 4 aref referably of the type which themselves are ormed to furnish a sustaining ysurface to assist in supporting 'the airplane. f. Attached to the lower portion of the airplane in 'any conventional manner but )referably by being attached to the braces 4 a jacent the fuselage are the wheel supporting structures 5 carrying the landing wheels 6. v

To the rearmost portion of the fuselage 1 the rearwardly extending support members 7 for supporting the empennage are attached. This empennage consists of the usual rudder Sand elevators 9, and carries by a suitable mounting attached to its lower portion, a rear landing wheel 10. This tail structure is further braced against lateral movements by means of the tension members 11. As is well known, this Outrigger type of empennage has numerous advantages, among which are lightness and ease of control. 'It is also apparent that this construction enables a standardization in fuselage size and construction. As will hereinafterfmore fully appear, this type of construction is also well adapted to my improved arrangement of motors and propellers.

At its forward and rearward ends, the fuselage is provided with tractor and pusher. propellers 12 and 13 respectively for driving the airplane. Within the fuselage there. is -arranged the engine 14 adjacent the nose of the fuselage for the purpose of driving the tractor propeller 12 through the intermediary of the propeller shaft 15. Directly to the rear yof and substantially inline with the engine 14 there is arranged a second engine 16 for the purpose of driving the pusher propeller 13 throu h the intermediary of the shaft 17.

The shafgs 15 and 17 are arranged to extend along lthe same line so that each of the propellers attached to the respective'shafts will act on the airplane to drive it in exactly the same direction. These engines may be of any Well-known type, such as gasoline or Diesel and may be water-cooled.

' It will be seen that there has been provided an arrangementof a plurality of motors in an airplane -whereby in the event of the Afailcaused by the motors vand by urepf one of the motors the other would con- I tinue to propel the plane in the same direction, and the line of application of its propelling force would be the same as the resultant line of 'application of the propelling forces the strong frame of which the fuselage is.

constructed and to eliminate the necessity for heavy framework for supporting them outside of the fuselage.

It is also apparent that by placing the motors within the fuselage the air resistance any framework provided for their support as been substantially eliminated.

Also placingfthe motors within the fuselage has allowed the positioning of the propellers of the airplane sothat the line of thrust due to the action of each Apropeller passes sub-l sol stantially through the center of gravity of the airplane as a whole.

'It will be appreciatedl that while the inventionhas been shown as applied to an airlane of Jthe monoplane type, it might as well e incorporated in an airplane of any other type commonly in use.

It will be appreciated asv aforementioned that various modifications and alterations may be made inthe arrangement herein described Without exceeding the scope ofthe invention as defined by the appended claim, it bein 'distinctly understood that the prior art an theclaim'herein included alone are to be definitive of the invention.

I claim: l'

In an airplanev having afuselage terminating adjacent the trailing edge of the wing, support members extending from said fuselage upwardly for a yrelatively short distance and downwardly to the termination thereof, an empennage. carried by said support members at the termination, a plurality of motors mounted closely adjacent each other in tandem in the forward part of the fuselage adapted to drive tractor and pusher propellers, respectively, the pusher propeller being located in the larger space between the 1 support members so'that the slip stream there- 'from is substantially unobstructed for im- 

